Television apparatus



April 1, 1941. 1.. w. PARKER TELEVISION APPARATUS Filed June 18, 1938[0111's M Parker 'Qu G 24124 ATTbRNEY Patented Apr. 1, 1941 UNITED 'iri'i 2,236,578 TELEVISION APPARATUS Louis W. Parker, New York, N. Y.,assignor, by gene assignments, to C. T. Allen, New York,

Application June 18, 1938, Serial No. 214,420

2 Claims.

This invention relates to television reception,

I and more particularly to improved arrangements for housing thekinescope or cathode ray tube used to produce the image.

In television receivers of the kinescope type, the cathode ray tube isconsiderably larger in size .than the tube customarily employed in radioreceiving apparatus. It has been proposed to mount this tube with thescreen end fiush with the front of the cabinet which houses the radioreceiver.

This leads to an uneconomical construction, because cathode ray tubesare extremely sensitive to magnetic fields and must be kept at adistance from the component parts of the radio and power supplyapparatus so that the cabinet must be very bulky, or the same must bevery carefully and thoroughly shielded.

This arrangement has the further disadvantage, that when thetube is somounted, it is difficult for a number of people to View the imagesimultaneously, and it is practically impossible to locate a .televisionreceiver of such construction, in a living room, for example, so thatthe screen is visible in various parts of the room where chairs may belocated. With the small size cathode ray tubes, such, for example, asthose having a 5" diameter screen, the image is too small to becomfortably observed, unless the observer is only a short distance fromthe receiver, and it will be clear that only a very small number ofpeople can comfortably arrange themselves in such a positionsimultaneously.

It is an object of this invention to provide means whereby any desirednumber of observers may View the picture simultaneously without thenecessity of crowding together in front of the.

receiver.

' It is a further object of my invention to provide means whereby thenecessary radio and television receivers themselves may be economicallyincorporated in a cabinet without waste of space and without excessiveshielding.

Still a further object of my invention is to provide means whereby thesize of the image is magnified optically.

Still a further object of my invention is to provide a simple, compact,easily portable housing for the cathode ray tube and the power packrequired for its operation, so that the observer may sit or recline inwhatever position he desires and may adjust the apparatus so that theimage is produced in a comfortable viewing position.

Still other objects and advantages of my invention will be apparent fromthe specification.

In this application I have particularly pointed out and distinctlyclaimedthe part, improvement or combination which I claim as myinvention or discovery, and I have explained the principles thereof andthe best mode in which I have contemplated applying those principles soas to distinguish my invention from other inventions.

In the drawing Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a portable kinescopestand, in accordance with my invention.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a modified form of a kinescope stand, inaccordance with my invention.

Fig. 4 is a view showing the manner of use of the kinescope stand, inaccordance with my invention.

Referring now more particularly to Fig. 1, the cathode ray tube orkinescope I is shown in dotted lines within a hollow pedestal 5, mountedupon a suitable base 2. 3 indicates a container, preferably metallic,Within which I prefer to provide the power pack for providing thekinescope with all of the necessary operating voltages, except thesignal voltage and the vertical and horizontal sweep voltages.Alternately, however, I may provide the sweep generators with theircontrols on the stand, in which case only the modulating (signal)voltage will be supplied from the receiver.

The stand preferably also is provided with the necessary operatingcontrols for the power pack to control the space position of the pictureon the screen and for controlling the brilliancy and focusing of thepicture. In the embodiment here shown, controls numbered 4 may be thepicture position controls, and 6 may be the brilliancy and focuscontrols.

Since these controls are well known in the art and their operation perse forms no part of the present invention, they are not described indetail, except that it will be noted that the observer seated in frontof the kinescope stand may conveniently reach out and perform whateveradjustment may be needed to keep the picture to his satisfaction, onceit has been properly tuned m.

At the upper end of the column 5 I may provide bracket arms 32 securedto column 5 and extended outwardly at an angle and continuing upward inhollow portions 8. Slidable Within the hollow portions 8 I may providearms 9 carrying shaft ill, on which there may be mounted a mirror l2,preferably, although not necessarily, :a plane mirror. It may be aconcave mirror, and

2 may supply the desired magnification, in which case the lens describedlater may be omitted. Suitable means may be provided for permitting thetilting and clamping of the mirror at .the desired angle, the same beingdiagrammatically illustrated as wing nuts ii, and clamping nuts B--a maybe provided in the upper ends of arms 8 to permit the mirror to beraised and lowered.

To provide for optical enlargement of the image formed on the kinescopescreen, the upper end of the column 5 may be given an outward flare, asat 3, and in the outer end. I may provide a lens Hi. This may be anytype of lens desired, but I have found that particularly satisfactoryresults are obtained with a plano-convex lens of relatively short focuslength, the kinescope being mounted behind the plane side of the lenswith the screen well inside the focal point.

I have found that by the employment of my invention I am able to utilizea kinescope having a 5" diameter screen, producing therewithapproximately a 9 picture as viewed, without annoying distortion.

Referring now more particularly to Fig. 3, I have shown a modified formof stand in which the mirror may be dispensed with, the column 5containing the kinescope being pivoted in the upper end of a yoke 33having a column portion l5 slidable within the hollow column l6 andclamped in position by set screw H. In this case again the upper end ofcolumn 5 may be flared outwardly as before and lens l4 may be mounted atthe outer end of the flared portion. In this instance I have also shownan annular projection l8 extending forward beyond the lens a shortdistance, this producing a shadow box effect, enhancing the visibilityof the image.

If desired, the column l5 and the yoke arms may be made hollow toaccommodate the wiring from the power pack 3 to the kinescope, so as toavoid exposed wiring. Preferably, also, although not necessarily, thekinescope I is mounted on a mounting 22 secured to the column 5, forexample, by nuts 23, and column 5 may have slots 25 so that thekinescope may be moved longitudinally of the column and secured in thebest position. Ordinarily, this adjustment will be used only when it isnecessary to replace the cathode ray tube.

Referring now more particularly to Fig. 4, I may provide a number ofkinescope stands, each operated 'from the same television receiver 30through connection 2| which supplies the signal voltage from thereceiver to the kinescope, and each kinescope stand having its ownconnection 20 to the power supply for operating its individual powerpack. The signal voltage circuit 2| of each individual kinescope may bein parallel with all the others, since this circuit draws practicallyzero current.

The connection 2| may be permanently or semipermanently installed in thebuilding and provided with outlet sockets 3|. If the receiver issupplying signal and sweep voltages, the conductor 2| will preferably bea four-conductor cable terminating in four-contact plugs, and the outletmay be a four-contact socket. If the indiaesasrs vidual stands aregenerating their own sweep voltages as previously described, conductor2| may be a two-conductor cable and the outlet sockets 3| may betwo-contact sockets.

I have diagrammatically indicated a kinescope 23 in the receiver inconventional position, which may be used initially by the listener intuning the receiver to the desired station, and this kinescope may be arelatively small tube, such, for example, as one having a 1" screen,since its primary purpose is not for continued observation, but merelyfor tuning in and monitoring the signal. In the operation of my system,any convenient number of kinescope stands may be provided, either in thesame room or in various rooms, as may be desired, and they may bearranged to suit the taste of the observer. Preferably they should bemade light in weight so that they may be easily moved from place toplace if desired. It will be noted that while in Figs. 1 and 2 theadjustment to the best viewing position is made by moving the mirror andin Fig. 3 by moving the tube itself, nevertheless, in either case, theviewing position of the image is adjusted to the optimum place for theobserver.

While I have shown and described certain. preferred embodiments of myinvention, it will be apparent that modifications and changes may bemade without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention, aswill be clear to those skilled in the art.

I claim:

1. Viewing apparatus for television reception comprising, incombination, a base, a column mounted on said base, means for adjustingthe height of said column, a hollow housing mounted on said column andadjustable about a horizontal axis, a kinescope tube positioned withinsaid casing, said kinescope tube having a screen end upon which there isproduced by the impinging of the cathode ray beam upon the screen avisible image adapted to be viewed by the observer, and electrical meanson said base for controlling the posi tion, focus and brilliance of theimage; whereby said screen may be easily and quickly adjusted to optimumviewing position and the image thereon quickly and easily adjusted tooptimum seeing conditions.

2. Viewing apparatus for television reception comprising, incombination, a base, a housing mounted on said base, a kinescope tubemounted within said housing, said kinescope tube having a screen endupon. which there is produced by the impinging of the cathode ray beamupon the screen a visible image adapted to be viewed by the observer,mechanical means for adjusting the distance of the image from theobservers eye while maintaining said base fixed in position, mechanicalmeans for adjusting the angle of the plane of said image, and electricalmeans mounted on said base for controlling the position, focus andbrilliance of the image, whereby said screen may be easily and quicklyadjusted to optimum viewing position and the image thereon easily andquickly adjusted to optimum seeing conditions.

LOUIS W. PARKER.

